DRAFT: Q&A with Sam Cosentino

We're just days away from the start of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, a draft postponed by many months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Usually at this time of year, 2020 draft picks are suiting up for their first dose of NHL life at training camps, experiencing the professional experience for the first time.

Amanda Stein: The Devils have three first round picks, which is very exciting. They'll pick at seven, 18 and 20. Who at seven do you see as being available, but more importantly, who do you think they're going to pick?
Sam Cosentino: So, that's a really fascinating position to be in because the two defenseman I think are going to change what happens in the top ten. The two defenseman I'm talking about are Jamie Drysdale of the Erie Otters in the Ontario Hockey League and Jake Sanderson who had a real coming out in the second half of the season, who in my opinion has surpassed Drysdale. Depending on how excited teams are above the Devils to get those defensemen, and I do think both of them will be gone before the Devils pick, they will change the complexion of what happens in that first ten. Getting back to your question about number seven, if I think about Graham Clarke, Nikita Okhotyuk and Kevin Bahl and I think about all the times that the Devil's brass has had the opportunity to watch the Ottawa 67. I can't help but think about Marco Rossi being in that spot and that's maybe the road they want to go down.
AS: You often hear this is a 'deep draft', which makes it even more exciting for a team that has three picks in the top 20. How do you see a team like the Devils managing those three picks?
SC: Well, if you're Fitzy, you've got to be really excited about the opportunity of having those three selections that you can actually call your own. The way I would kind of game plan is when I look at some of the acquisitions of some close to NHL ready prospects last year, Nolan Foote, Nick Merkley, Nate Schnarr, those type of players who are very close to being able to make that jump, I think you can afford a little bit of leeway here.
The strategy that I would probably take into this is at seven, I take the best player available. At 18, I'd be probably looking to address a positional need and, a puck moving defenseman, offensive type defenseman, is someone that I think would have to be near the top of the list for the New Jersey Devils at that point. And then at 20, I might be thinking about hitting a home run, maybe going off the board a little bit, maybe a Hendrix Lapierre, who was injured for most of the year, So that's probably the approach, I'd take seven, best player,18 positional need and 20 maybe try and hit a home run.
AS: We're in a unique time in our world, everyone has had to make adjustments. These draft picks won't have the chance to have that moment of walking across the stage, putting on the NHL jersey, being there in the area with family and friends. It's really a missed moment for them.
SC: Yeah, no question. And that's the thing that I'm really concerned about, too, on getting that once in a lifetime opportunity with your family. The big hug that we catch on camera, the tears that are flowing from the brother, the Mother, the Father, the grandparents. That's obviously going to be missed and that's a big part of the of the draft experience. Now, having said that, the uniqueness of this, assuming that we're not going to go down this road again, in 2021, will also put those players in a spotlight that no other player in any draft history has been part of. So that's kind of a cool element to say, 'Yeah, I was the pandemic draft.'
AS: We still don't have quite all the details, but how do you see draft day working out in terms of a logistical standpoint?
SC: I would suspect it playing out at the NHL studios in Secaucus. Gary Bettman, Bill Daly will be there. And then from there, they'll kind of make the pick available online, they'll have cameras set up in the particular players home, and hugs and kisses with the families still being able to experience that in a safe and socially distant way. So that kind of will be the way that I think they will approach it.
I think from us at Sportsnet and being a national carrier, most likely we will be in a socially distant studio setup, similar to the way that we've done the games in our intermission on Hockey Night in Canada and the other broadcasts at Sportsnet. It will be very centrally located in Secaucus, and then have the ability to branch out to the various markets to do something more personal to each individual market.
AS: Last year there was a record of US players drafted in the first round, but based on the projections, this draft heavily shift back to Canadian hockey players. How do you see this play out?
SC: Let's go back to 2019. We talked about the US development program and all the records that they set with a number of players in the top 10, and Jack Hughes of course going first overall, and the whole draft year was basically centered around that team and that group, and just how good a group it was. Yet, from a team perspective, they didn't win anywhere near what they thought they would win. So again, talk about all the great individual players that came off the US under 18 team.
When I look to this year, I think it's shifting back to the Canadian Hockey League. And I think, and I don't say that to be biased because that's the league I work in, but when I look at the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, I think about Lafreniere is the number one guy and then you move down the list and you talk about Hendrik Lapierre, and I think about what's happening in the Western Hockey League and Kaiden Guhle the defenseman for Prince Albert and Ridly Greig and Braden Schneider, and I think about the Ontario Hockey League and Jamie Drysdale and Quinton Byfield. So, I do think that across the three Canadian hockey leagues, there's a lot of really good players to be selected here. Shifting from the US U-18 program in 2019, to maybe back to the CHL in 2020. I think what we're going to see less of are the Finnish players that have been so successful in recent years, where we've seen a lot of high-end Fins go in the top 10. That's not going to quite be the case this year, it's a bit of a down year for Finland after a real successful four- or five-year run. So that's one thing that will differ a little bit.
AS: Who is the most NHL-ready player in this draft?
SC: Well, [Alexis] Lafreniere would be the guy, no question. I think after that, there's going to be some concern, is Jake Sanderson, because his dad played in the National Hockey League, he's used to being around the big team in the big leagues, and you talk to his coaches and his teammates at the US under 18 program, they say this guy is a pro through and through, just throw them into an NHL room right away. Tim Stutzle, he's a guy that I think might be the most well suited to be able to play that role because he's played in the German men's league already and has done so successfully.
I think there's probably those three guys that I think that are in that ilk that might be able to make the jump. Lafreniere I don't think there's any question about. Stutzle, I think could probably do it, and then I think Jake Sanderson only because he's grown up around it and he's not going to be fazed by what the room has or what a road trip has to offer, it's kind of second nature to him. But other than that, I do think that the rest of the group is going to need some time before they're able to play in the National Hockey League.
And of course, it depends on the organization, do they need to fill a need in this flat cap world? Do they actually have to have the guy play because he's going to come to you at a at a cheaper price, on an entry level deal? Those things will definitely come into consideration as well.